Why Teach Environmental Education?

The need to understand environmental topics as they relate to everyday life becomes more important—and more urgent—each day.

Yet research shows that Americans, in general, know startlingly little about the environment and even less about their personal connections to the natural world.

Without knowledge and understanding of these topics, taking personal action often seems overwhelming and pointless—yet individual actions are at the helm of many environmental problems including high energy consumption, water and air pollution, and sprawl.

To address these problems, they must be understood. When we incorporate environmental learning into education, students develop an environmental literacy that will help them make informed decisions to protect the environment at home, at work and in their community.

The State of Environmental Literacy in America

The National Environmental Education Foundation’s “Environmental Literacy in America” report, based on ten years of NEEF/Roper survey research and related studies, indicates:

  • Only twelve percent of Americans can pass a basic quiz on energy topics.
  • Less than half of the U.S. population knows that the cars and appliances they use contribute to global climate change.
  • Nearly 80 percent of Americans are heavily influenced by incorrect or outdated environmental myths1.
  • Fifty-six percent of Americans want to take action to protect the environment, but they don’t know what to do2.

America’s Schools Prepare for the Future with Environmental Education

For more than three decades, environmental education has been a growing part of instruction in America’s schools. Responding to the need to improve student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century, schools throughout the nation now offer some form of environmental education.

  • Thirty million students participate in environmental education programs or classes.
  • 1.2 million teachers offer environmental education either through environmental science courses or through an interdisciplinary approach.
  • More than 300 environmental and magnet schools have been established with a fully-integrated environmental curriculum.

Bridging the Environmental Knowledge Gap at the High School Level

While there is an abundance of environmental education curricula and programs, the majority are aimed at K-8 students, creating an “environmental knowledge gap” at the high school level.

With more than 16.7 million 15-18 year olds enrolled in high schools in the U.S.3, there is enormous potential to close this gap by encouraging the development of more high-school-based environmental education programs. This will not only increase their environmental literacy but also address a weakness in the Environmental Science Advanced Placement program.

While there has been a significant increase in the number of students taking the AP Environmental Science Exam from 5,186 in 1996 at its initiation to 45,000 in 2006, student scores for Environmental Science were the lowest for all 38 AP exam subjects4. Low scores persist even while there is heightened interest in environmental education, because teachers report that on a daily basis they allocate a limited amount of time to environmental science5.

Why Teach Environmental Education in High School?

[1] Coyle, K. 2005. Environmental Literacy in America: What 10 Years of NEETF/Roper Research and Related Studies Say About Environmental Literacy in the U.S. Washington, DC: The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

[2] Ibid.

[3] U.S. Census Bureau. S0902 Teenagers' Characteristics 2005. Available from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0902&-ds_name=ACS2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-format=&-CONTEXT=st. Accessed 9 July 2007.

[4] The College Board. 2006 Environmental Science Grade Distribution. Available from http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/envsci/dist.html?envsci. Accessed July 20, 2007.

[5] Environmental Literacy Council. Focus: What is Environmental Literacy? Available from http://www.enviroliteracy.org/category.php?id=10. Accessed July 20, 2007.